New York Coalition of 100 Black Women donates to US-based Haitian charity

1/23/2014, 3:50 p.m.

Friends of the Children of Lascahobas founder and President Estelle Dubuisson and Coalition President Avalyn P. Simon. Simon presented check of $1,000 to the Friends of the Children of Lascahobas on behalf of the Coalition of 100 Black Women (Gideon Manasseh photos)

The New York Coalition of 100 Black Women supports children’s causes both here in the United States and internationally. At the organization’s annual meeting held in December 2013, Coalition President Avalyn P. Simon presented a check of $1,000 to Estelle Dubuisson, president and founder of the Friends of the Children of Lascahobas, Haiti (FCLH), a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that works to alleviate hunger, illiteracy and poor health conditions of the children of Lascahobas by implementing programs in health care, nutrition and education.

FCLH’s programs include providing a high-protein mixture made of ground beans and rice or corn, akami, to feed the malnourished children of Lascahobas; sponsoring children in elementary school, including tuition, shoes, uniforms and school supplies; organizing cooperative groups and training participants in small business practices to generate profits to feed their children; and facilitating a yearly ophthalmology mission to examine children’s eyes, distribute glasses and perform cataract and glaucoma surgeries. FCLH opened a much-needed hospital in Lascahobas in 2000, which is now run by the Catholic Church of Haiti.

When asked why this organization was selected, Simon said, “In selecting this organization, we were impressed with the great work the organization has done over the years with feeding, educating and bringing medical care to these children, but also with the extreme commitment and passion of its president and founder, Dubuisson, and her team.”

The New York Coalition of 100 Black Women is the founding chapter of the Coalition of 100 Black Women, which was created in 1970 in New York City. It is a 501c(3) not-for-profit organization that over the past 40 years has advocated on behalf of women and their families, and through its programs and activities aims to improve the lives of women and girls.